Omagh families praise judge
Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims today welcomed a judge’s determination to start their multi-million pound civil action against those they believe responsible for the Real IRA atrocity.
At the High Court in Belfast Mr Justice Morgan made clear he was anxious there was no slippage from the April 7 date he has set.
Families of the 29 victims and those who were injured have mounted a £14m (€18.6m) claim against those they believe responsible.
Following the acquittal last month of south Armagh man Sean Hoey on all charges relating to the August 1998 bombing and other Real IRA attacks they see it as their only chance to see someone held to account.
Hoey is not among the five men they started the legal proceedings against seven years ago.
During a brief pre-trial hearing the judge set a series of deadlines for legal teams preparing for the case.
He told them: “I am anxious to set a timetable to ensure the case proceeds on 7th April.”
Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan died in the bombing, was in court and said afterwards: “There is definitely movement, that is what the families need. There has been dragging of feet for far too long.”
The case is expected to last between four and eight weeks, and Mr Gallagher said: “We would like to have this resolved by the 10th anniversary.”
While the action is being taken privately by the families, former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy committed the Government to providing £800,000 (€1m) towards the estimated £1.5m (€2m) the families raised to fight the case.
Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy have all engaged lawyers to defend the action.
Murphy, a builder and publican from across the border in Dundalk, was the only man convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing although that judgment has now been overturned.
He was sentenced to 14 years in the Republic in 2002 for plotting the bombing but successfully fought the conviction in the Irish courts and has now been granted a retrial.
His lawyers are attempting to have the retrial scrapped and Mr Justice Morgan said only a direct clash of dates for the two cases could lead to a delay of the civil action.
He said it could be a matter for the Attorney Generals of the two jurisdictions to reach agreement over timings.
Real IRA leader McKevitt was sentenced to 20 years in 2003 for directing terrorism and Campbell was jailed for five years in 2001 – like the other two he was jailed for Real IRA membership.
Mr Justice Morgan told the legal teams he would sit again on January 25 to hear any further pre-trial applications.
